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Poet, short-story writer and critic Peter Makuck to give April 11 reading at St. Bonaventure University

Apr 02, 2012 |

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Poet, short-story writer and critic Peter Makuck will give a reading from his works Wednesday, April 11, as part of the Department of English’s 2012 Writers Series.

Makuck’s reading will begin at 7 p.m. in Garret Theater (adjacent to Devereux Hall) on campus. The program is free and open to all.

Makuck is a distinguished professor emeritus of English at East Carolina University, where he was also the first distinguished professor of arts and sciences. In 1978, he founded the internationally acclaimed magazine Tar River Poetry.

His eighth volume of poetry, “Long Lens: New & Selected Poems,” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by its publisher, BOA Editions. His collection of short stories, “Costly Habits,” was nominated for the Pen/Faulkner Award, and he has five times received honorable mention in “Best American Short Stories.”

Makuck’s awards and honors include a Fulbright professorship in France, the Monroe Spears Award for the best essay to appear in the Sewanee Review in 2010, the Charity Randall Citation for poetry, and the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Award for best book of poems by a North Carolinian in 1989.

He has also been a lecturer in the Poets in Person series sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Following Makuck’s reading, the St. Bonaventure Slam Poetry Club will host a slam competition in the theater starting at 8:30 p.m. Those who wish to compete can email Andrea Westerlund (westeraf@bonaventure.edu) for more information.

Competitors are asked to prepare two original poems to perform, which will be scored on a combination of content and performance (memorization is not required). Sixteen poets will compete in the first round with six poets advancing to the second round.

The reading and poetry slam events are sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, and SBU Theater.

About the University: Inspired for more than 150 years by the Catholic Franciscan values of individual dignity, community inclusiveness, and service, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them.